Apple fall salad

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A simple dinner salad exploding with the flavors of autumn.

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This salad I created for a tag game online, where a person asks someone else to come up with a recipe containing one of three ingredients they choose. Once another person commits to developing that recipe, they can then offer three ingredients of their own for the next person to make something with. It is a lot of fun and a great way to get your friends to find ways to use up your favorite ingredients, or conversely, find recipes for ingredients you just don’t know what to do with. This particular recipe encompasses two of the ingredients: dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds, of which I adore on a tossed salad.

It’s very much autumn, and what better way to complete the salad than with diced apples, fall mushrooms, and a splash of each balsamic vinegar and pumpkin seed oil? If you have never tried pumpkin seed oil, it is a specialty oil, and is best used in smaller amounts since it explodes with the flavor of pumpkin seeds and the green tinge of pepitas. It’s not an oil for cooking at all. I found some at Trader Joe’s, which are around in many places, but you can also find it at upscale grocers, or ask your market manager if he can get it in for you.

The salad itself is a cinch to make, and is dressy enough for a special meal. So if you find your hands full but still need a little something to round out the corners of a meal such as roast turkey or chicken, this is perfectly easy, light and healthy and can also help to balance out the carb weight of things like stuffing/dressing or potatoes.